NSA head: Europe spy reports false

National Security Agency director Gen. Keith Alexander on Tuesday called “completely false” press reports that the NSA had gathered information on millions of telephone calls in Western Europe.

At a House Intelligence Committee hearing, Alexander said the data in question came from foreign intelligence agencies and was usually gathered outside Europe.

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”This is not information we collected on European citizens,” Alexander said, citing reports of snooping in Italy, France, and Spain. “It represents information that we and our NATO allies have collected in defense of our countries and in support of military operations.”

Director of National Intelligence James Clapper sought to reassure a worldwide audience Tuesday that the U.S. is not cavalier about the privacy of Americans or foreigners.

“What we do not do is spy unlawfully on Americans or, for that matter, spy indiscriminately on the citizens of any country,” Clapper said during the House hearing. “We do not spy on anyone except for valid foreign intelligence purposes.”

The hearing came as European leaders and citizens are in an uproar about reports of widespread U.S. surveillance of e-mails and telephone communications both of average citizens and of prominent politicians.

Speaking in advance of the House hearing, White House press secretary Jay Carney would not confirm a Wall Street Journal’s story that some snooping attributed to the NSA in other reports was conducted by French and Spanish intelligence services and then passed to the NSA.

Citing documents provided by Edward Snowden, newspapers in Italy, France and Spain have reported in recent days that the NSA monitored tens of millions of phone calls in both countries.

“We have important cooperative relationships with the security agencies and intelligence agencies” of allies around the world, Carney said, but he declined to “get into the specific alleged intelligence activities.”

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) sought to use Tuesday’s hearing to case doubt on claims that President Barack Obama was in the dark about NSA surveillance of telephones belonging to leaders like German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Rogers asked if intelligence agencies were free to set their own priorities for intelligence gathering.

“We do only what the policymakers writ large have actually asked us to do,” Clapper replied.

“Would it be fair to say the White House should know what those collection priorities are?” Rogers asked.

”They can and do, but I have to say that does not necessarily extended down to the level of detail,” Clapper said. He said intelligence agencies “don’t necessarily” review with the White House the “selectors” — a surveillance term for a specific phone line or e-mail address — that produce information.

Clapper also said trying to determine the intentions for foreign governments and leaders was a “hardy perennial” for U.S. intelligence services. “It’s invaluable to us to know where countries are coming from.”

During the hearing a dispute broke out between Rogers and several Democratic committee members about whether panel members were kept informed about snooping on leader of U.S. allies.

“Why did we not know that heads of state were being eavesdropped on, spied on?” Rep. Jan Schakowsky of Illinois complained. “We are the intelligence committee and we didn’t know that.”

Schakowsky said the spying on allies had done damage. “There has been some diminution of our diplomatic relationship around the world, naïve or not, disingenuous or not. That is just a fact,” she said.

Rep. Adam Schiff of California suggested that the NSA may have run afoul of a legal requirement that Congress be informed of “significant” intelligence activities.

”Would you consider that a wiretap of a leader of an allied country would be a significant intelligence activity requiring a report to the intelligence committees?” Schiff asked.

”That’s something I guess we could discuss as to whether that level of detail is required. I believe that we have lived up to the letter and spirit of that requirement,” Clapper said.

Schiff said that because of the potential for “blowback,” surveillance aimed at U.S.-allied leaders should have been reported to the committee. “I think we have a lot more work to do with you to make sure we’re getting the information we need,” said the congressman.